Bodies World and Date Night

***WARNING: Long post, no pictures. None were allowed in the exhibit, but if I would have taken my camera, I would totally have taken a picture of the $2.99 gas downtown like the lady next to us in traffic did! Under $3 is AWESOME. ***


We finally went to the Bodies World Exhibit last night. Thanks to my mom, the gracious and patient babysitter, we got to extend it a little and go out to a grown up dinner afterward.

The exhibit was really interesting. Alan said his favorite part was explaining things to me and watching me go "Oh! That makes sense!". He taught me what they do when they intubate someone, and where they cut for a surgical crike (I have no idea how to spell it or what the full term is).

I think my favorite part was the guy bent in kind of a triangle. His legs looked like he was trying to do the splits, and then they had removed his organs and put them all in his hand so you could see what the whole bundle looks like. I didn't know the top of our lungs sit so high; I knew a little about how it all fit together, but I learned lots more about it. I also didn't know our kidneys sat so high up.

I told Alan my least favorite part was all the slides and cross-sections. They were very hard for me to get a good, understanding visual on. He said that was what made it hard to read CT scans. I can totally see how that would be a problem!

The section on the physical repercussions of smoking was more than sobering. I have to admit, even though I've seen it all before and I have always been a dedicated non-smoker, it makes me wish my loved ones didn't smoke. They have a set of smoker's lungs, a set of lungs ravaged by emphesema, and a set of lungs full of cancer. There is also a slide of a foot with arteriosclerosis, which smokers are more prone to experience. Overall, that part was really nasty and I'm so glad I don't do that!

I got to see a knee, how the joints and tendons and bone all fit together, and what it looks like when something goes wrong. I have a better mental picture of the struggle my friend Ashlee is having with her knees, and I know what they will do if she has to undergo a total knee replacement.

I learned that all the Bodies World exhibits have a different focus. There are three or four out there making the rounds, and this particular one focuses on the heart. I had no idea that athlete's hearts are larger; I didn't know exactly how the stent my uncle got last year works; I didn't fully understand the LVAD (left ventricular assist device), even though we had to take a class on them at work in case we take any medical calls where one is firing. I could go on. I really learned how my family's history of heart disease affects the physical structure of my heart. I learned what most likely happened when a second uncle (not the uncle with a stent) died very suddenly last year. As opposed to having Alan explain it or draw a diagram (seriously--he always does that. He's good at it, but there's nothing like the 3-D sight of an actual heart), actually seeing it helped me understand a lot more. I'd like to say it will inspire me to take better care of myself, but I don't know on that one yet.

Overall, I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in going. At $22 a ticket (there are coupons around for $2 off, but if you order tickets online, they charge a $2.50 convenience fee), I would say don't go unless you're at least vaguely interested. There is nothing disgusting about any of it. I understand the controversy on the section that shows what an embryo/baby looks like from conception on through. However, I think it's just people trying to find an excuse not to go. It's true, the adults that donated their bodies had a choice; I am seriously doubting any of the parents who have donated their babies bodies to this had an abortion to do it, and they were the mouthpiece for their child, who unfortunately didn't survive. To the people who are loud and proud about not going because they don't want to see that, I would say this: get over yourself. That's a lame, sheltered excuse not to go. That part made me a little sad, as it does whenever I hear about a friend who has suffered a miscarriage or a child who didn't survive for whatever reason. But the bottom line is that none of us get out alive; unless you have a personal experience that would make the exhibit difficult to view, what you could gain will be far more important than what you are avoiding.

So, removing myself from the soapbox, and continuing... we had a great dinner afterward at Market Street Grill. We had each only been there once, several years ago, and we had a lot of fun. We were both adventurous. Alan tried sturgeon (which was really good, by the way. It's way sturdier than your typical fish as opposed to being flaky, and it had a really mild flavor that was well-complimented by the sauce it was served with), and I tried their signature dessert called sabayon. It was basically whipped cream and berries over vanilla ice cream and a sabayon sauce. I can't remember exactly what was in the sauce, but it had a light citrus flavor to it and was very good. I haven't had dessert or a treat since last Friday in anticipation of gorging myself on chocolate fondue. (We had been planning to go to The Melting Pot and their wait was too long--I didn't make a reservation because I didn't know how long we would be in the exhibit). I must be getting a little healthier, because by the time dessert came around at Market Street, most of what I ate was the berries, and a little of the ice cream and sauce.

It was good to get out for a while and feel like an actual couple again, instead of just overworked parents or passerby in the same house. This was the first day we've had off together since the beginning of October (the 5th to be exact, when we went to the hockey game), and I would say it was a day well spent. Thanks, mom, for getting sassed around by Mason for a few hours so we could go play!